For the past three
years or so, both the VHP and the Bajrang Dal have been carrying out highly
publicised programmes wherein their cadres were given arms training in
different parts of the country. These camps have been held in Uttar Pradesh,
Gujarat, MP, West Bengal and Maharashtra and probably elsewhere. The blatantly
provocative and violent nature of the mobilisation by these outfits has pushed
the governments of three states – Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra
– into demanding that the Union government ban the Bajrang Dal. At a
high level meet with the state DGPs in September 2001, Union home minister, LK
Advani was shocked by the vehemence with which the DGPs of Madhya Pradesh and
Maharashtra argued for such a ban.

Prior to this
meeting, on 24 April 2001, in a letter to Advani, Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijay
Singh had stated that ‘along with SIMI, Bajrang Dal is responsible for
communal mobilisation.’ In his letter, Singh pointed out that the Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, enacted by the Centre, empowers the central
government to ban such organisations throughout the country. "I seek your
indulgence and your active consideration that such organisations, like SIMI
and Bajrang Dal, should be banned to enable us to curb their activities which
are posing a great threat to communal harmony and to strengthen the hands of
law enforcing agencies in maintaining communal harmony and peace."

The reply from the
Union home minister was vague, and while SIMI was banned last September, the
Bajrang Dal was spared similar action. Through such discriminatory action, the
central government revealed its own mind on the kind of unlawful activities it
considered punishable under the act and those it was prepared to turn a blind
eye to.

After the genocide in
Gujarat, there has been a widespread demand for a ban on the Bajrang Dal and
the VHP. For two days, February 28 and March 1, with military precision, mobs
of 5,000 and many more, targetted innocent civilians in different parts of
Gujarat, armed with inflammable gas cylinders, petrol and kerosene cans.
(Incidentally, the use of such inflammable materials for arson and murder
attract the provisions of the Arms Act.) Muslims, men, women and children were
hacked to pieces and burnt to death, their homes and businesses looted or
torched. These attacks were preceded by the circulation, statewide, of highly
obnoxious and incendiary pamphlets which could attract the provisions of 153-A
and 153-B of the IPC: this alone is sufficient ground for a ban under the
provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

Is there a case for a
ban against the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal, on the grounds that
they are armed organisations, repeatedly inciting and resorting to violence
and attracting 153-A and 153-B?

It is under the
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (Act No. 37 of 1967) that the
government is empowered to declare an association ‘unlawful’.

Under the Act,

‘unlawful activity’
means "any action taken by such individual or association (whether by
committing an act or by words, either spoken or written, or by the signs or by
visible representation or otherwise):

Ø
"which is intended, or supports any claim, to bring about, on any ground
whatsoever, the cession of a part of the territory in India or the secession
of a part of the territory of India from the Union, or which incites any
individual or group of individuals to bring such cession or secession;

Ø
"which disclaims, questions, disrupts or is intended to disrupt the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of India;

and ‘unlawful
association’ means –

Ø
"Any association which has for its object any unlawful activity or which
encourages or aids persons to undertake any unlawful activity, or of which the
members undertake such activity, or

Ø
"Which has for its object any activity which is punishable under section
153 (A) or 153 (B) of the Indian Penal Code or which encourages or aids
persons to undertake any such activity, or of which the members undertake any
such activity."

CC
has accessed the arguments which the state of Madhya Pradesh made to the
Central government while pressing for a ban nearly a year ago, i.e. from July
2001.

In its arguments to
the Union home minister arguing for a ban on the Bajrang Dal, the MP chief
minister listed the activities of the outfit in Madhya Pradesh. These were:

"Bajrang Dal is
very active in Harda, Indore, Sihor, Raysen, Jubbalpore, Gwalior, Bhopal, Thar,
Hoshangabad, Khandwa, Khargone, Guna, Rajgadh, Narsinhpur, Sagar, Neemach,
Ujjain and Vidisha zillas. Various movements in the country such as,
construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, conversions, cow slaughter, terrorist
attacks, cow-protection plan and opposition to Christian missionaries have
been started by them.

"It should be
noted that the activities carried out by them are aimed at inciting members of
other communities, specially the Muslims and the Christians. Along with this,
an atmosphere of communal animosity is created between the Hindus and the
Muslims, sometimes causing law and order problems.

"Bajrang
Dal started in 1985 from Tanadia village in Shajapur zilla. At present
it has established its branches in all the zillas of Madhya Pradesh. It
is associated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and its ladies’ wing is known
as Durga Vahini.

"Between 30th
September 1989 and 7th October 1989, Bajrang Dal workers participated in the
programme of Shriram shila pooja and the carrying of bricks to Ayodhya
for the construction of a Ram temple, organised at Bhopal. Section 144 was
clamped on the town. Old Bhopal remained tense during the period of the
programme.

"On 16.6.90,
Bajrang Dal workers participated in a rally organised by the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad in support of the construction of the Ram temple. When this rath-yatra
was stopped in Bihar, they played an active role in calling a Bhopal bandh.

"In May 1992,
Bajrang Dal organised a rally in Bairasiya, Bhopal in which inflammatory
slogans were shouted. Near Kalari mosque, a sword attack during an altercation
between the Bajrang Dal members and Muslim shopkeepers of the area led to a
fight. Bajrang Dal leader Rameshwar Sharma, raising objectionable slogans,
spread the rumour that the Muslims had collected inside the Kalari mosque and
that they had injured a shopkeeper named Chhaganlal. On hearing this, the
Bajrang Dal crowd reached the Kalari mosque and started communal violence.

"Between
29.11.92 and 5.12.92, Vishwa Hindu Parishad observed a ‘challenge week’ in
which the Bajrang Dal members played a major role. This created a tense
situation in the city of Bhopal. This stressful situation led to communal
riots breaking out in various parts of Bhopal on 7.12.92.

"On 28.1.95, a
bandh was organised in Rajnathgaon and Ujjain. Similarly, on 7.3.95, in
Bhojshala in Dhar, public prayers to Hanuman were organised and slogans of ‘Jai
Siyaram’ were shouted.

"On 27.4.95,
they went to Bhopal railway station to meet Sadhwi Ritambhara but when she did
not turn up, they started breaking up things on the platform and outside the
station and the police had to use tear gas to disperse them.

"Bhoj Smruti
festival was celebrated in Bhoj between 11.2.97 and 15.2.97. The national
leader of the Bajrang Dal, Mr. Jaibhansingh Pavaiyya, participated in this
festival. Just before this, on 29.1.97 Mr. Jaibhansingh Pavaiyya had announced
in Gwalior that during its recently held apex council meeting in Mathura, the
Vishwa Hindu Parishad had included Bhojshala-Dhar in its national agenda. In
the same meeting, Acharya Giriraj announced that an agitation will be launched
to stop the namaaz being held in Bhojshala. If the administration does
not stop the namaaz, we will do so.

"On 11.3.97, the
district convenor of Bajrang Dal, Raja Bahu Madane handed over a memo to the
additional district collector, Dhar, which was addressed to the Honourable
President and which threatened an agitation from 8.4.97. Due to this threat,
the minority community continuously opposed the activity of these Hindu groups
and on 18.3.97 they handed a memorandum to the district collector of Dhar,
stating that this kind of activity is banned in this complex under the
Archaeological regulations and that only namaaz could be conducted.

"On 5.4.97,
under the leadership of Jaibhansingh Pavaiyya of the Bajrang Dal, a ‘cow
protection’ rally was taken out in Bhopal. Prior to this rally, huge posters
were put up at different places in Bhopal in which the role of the Bajrang Dal
was mentioned. The posters depicted slaughtered cows. In the rally, the jeeps
carried several cut-outs. One of them showed a man carrying a naked sword and
a butcher. Another showed a butcher in the act of killing a cow and a man
standing between the cow and the butcher, trying to save it. The following
slogans were raised: ‘This is not the nation of katuas (a derogatory
word for Muslims) and kazis, it is the nation of Vir Shivaji’; ‘Our
weapons will be out wherever the blood of a cow falls’; ‘Now that the
conflict has started on the border wipe out the rest of Pakistan from the map’;
‘Beat the cow-killers with shoes’; ‘We will not allow cows to be
slaughtered, nor our country to be broken up’; ‘Katuas will be
killed, they will call out to Ram’. During the rally it was announced that
this country belongs to Hindus and that Bakri Id will be observed without cow
slaughter. The fight which was started on 6th December will never end. What
happened in Ayodhya on 6th December 92 is not the last verse of Uttarkand (the
last section of Ramayan) but the verse of Balkand (the first section of
Ramayan). The participants at the rally carried small trishuls.

"On 13.5.97,
criticising the administration’s biased policy on entry of ordinary citizens
at Bhojshala in Dhar, regional convenor of Bajrang Dal, Prakash Ratnaparkhi
and national convenor of Durga Vahini, Sadhvi Ritambhara protested and
threatened to launch a nation-wide agitation on this issue. Bajrang Dal and
other Hindu organisations demanded entry for Hindus at Bhojshala every Tuesday
to conduct Pooja. At some places in Dhar, posters proclaiming, ‘Arise,
Proceed towards your goal, Let us dedicate ourselves to the Holy Feet of Ma
Sharada at the Saraswati Temple, Bhojshala, every Tuesday at 9 PM’ appeared.

"On 25.9.97, at
Khandwa’s LIG Colony, regional convenor of Bajrang Dal, Mr. Prakash
Ratnaparkhi and other workers saw 4-5 butchers leading about 70 animals. The
Bajrang Dal activists informed the Moghat road police station about it over
the phone. In the meantime, the butcher community at Imlipura area got news of
it and they also reached the site, leading to an altercation between them and
the Bajrang Dal workers and a few injuries.

"On 1.7.97, a
secret meeting was held at Indore which was attended by national chairman,
Jaibhan Singh Pavaiyya, regional convenor Prakash Ratnaparkhi and Bajrang Dal
workers from Dhar. At this meeting, a decision was taken regarding the Bajrang
Dal workers reaching Bhojshala, Dhar on 15 August 1997 and it was announced
that the national flag would be hoisted at Bhojshala on August 15, 1997.

"On 24.8.97,
national chairman Jaibhan Singh Pavaiyya declared at a press conference that
on any day in September, Bajrang Dal would launch a direct action operation
called ‘Operation Gau Hatyare’ to stop cow slaughter. Under this
operation, vehicles going to the slaughter-houses would be stopped on the
highways. On 26.9.97, Jaibhan Singh Pavaiyya and Acharya Giriraj Kishor came
to Bhopal. At a press conference, Mr. Pavaiyya stated that it is not correct
to call Ram Janmabhoomi as Babri masjid. The court has allowed them to conduct
pooja at the site and everyday pooja is being done there.

"On 14.9.97, the
regional conference of Bajrang Dal, with national chairman Pavaiyya as the
chief guest, concluded at Ujjain. On this occasion, Mr. Pavaiyya exhorted the
workers to organise ‘Trishul Distribution Ceremony’ on a large
scale.

"On 26.9.97,
during a talk with newspersons at Shajapur, national chairman of Bajrang Dal,
Jaibhan Singh Pavaiyya stated that if namaaz was conducted at the Ram
Janamsthala at Ayodhya, then pooja will be conducted at the other
disputed mosques.

"On 27.12.97,
national chairman of Bajrang Dal, Jaibhan Singh Pavaiyya, addressing a rally
at Devri in Sagar district, said that Muslims are unable to say Vande
Mataram, and that Muslims are always trying to hurt the religious
sentiments of Hindus. He addressed the MLA Sunil Jain as Sunil Mohammad Khan.
He also said that if someone chops off a cow’s head, then 100 Muslims’
hands should be chopped off. If the roads to Amarnath are blocked then the
intelligent Muslims should understand that no tazias will be allowed to
be taken out anywhere in the country. If we attacked, then we will extract
revenge from you in every street of the country. A Hindu does not provoke
anyone, but if he is provoked then he does not spare him.

"Bajrang Dal
ordered its primary training camps to call co-ordinators and co-co-ordinators
from every district, who were instructed on how to conduct ‘Operation Gau
Hatyare’ to stop cow slaughter and were ordered to train Hindu boys in
conducting raids.

"On 14.2.98,
Bajrang Dal, Khargaon organised a Ram Yagna and Trishul Distribution
Ceremony at the community hall of Ram Krishna colony. About 80-90 trishuls
were distributed. At the ceremony, the national convenor, Surendra Jain stated
in his speech that in every age, the lord appeared in human form to protect
the saints, destroy evil and establish the rule of dharma but in
Kaliyug, the lord has handed over this work to Bajrang Dal. It is the duty of
every worker to protect the cow. He told the Muslims that if they wanted to
stay in this country, then they would have to accept Ram and Krishna as their
ancestors, acknowledge the cow as their mother, respect the sentiments of the
Hindus and disown Babar and Aurangzeb. Rajiv Gandhi was asked to sacrifice his
life to save the Babri Masjid... rule according to the Bible in Nagaland. You
consumethe water and food
of India, then raise slogans for this country, stop saying ‘Pakistan zindabad’,
address the cow as Ammi, proclaim Ram and Krishna as your ancestors and
the insults inflicted by your ancestors will be forgiven.

"On 16.2.98,
Bajrang Dal, Harda organised a Shri Ram Mahayagna and Trishul
Distribution Ceremony in the courtyard of Gupteshwar Mandir, Harda. At this
ceremony, an appeal was issued for Hindutva and protection of the progeny of
cows. After the ceremony, a procession was taken out on the main roads where
the following slogans were raised: ‘Beat the killers of cows with shoes’;
‘Force of the country, Bajrang Dal’; ‘Ban Cow Slaughter’; ‘If the
calves are taken to slaughter, Blood will flow on the streets’; ‘Fold your
hands and say Vande Mataram’; and ‘He who works for the benefit of
Hindus will rule the country’.

"On 25.3.98,
under the stewardship of Gauraksha Andolan Samiti (Committee for the
Campaign to Save the Cow), Bhopal, workers of Bajrang Dal, Arya Samaj and
Hindu Utsav Samiti observed a 2-day Maun Dharana (Silent Protest) at
Bhavani Chowk to press for a ban on cow slaughter.

"Bajrang Dal and
Vishwa Hindu Parishad organised a regional conference from 10-12 April, 1998
at Diddayal Complex, Bhopal. The main focus of the conference was to organise
a Bhojshala Mukti Andolan (‘Free Bhojshala Campaign’) under which
it was decided to present a memorandum to the Honourable Governor, mob him and
hold demonstrations against him as also to mob and hold demonstrations outside
the residence of the Chief Minister on December 6, ’98.

"The regional
convenor of Bajrang Dal ordered that August 14 should be observed as the ‘Undivided
India Day’ and if the film ‘Jinnah’ was screened on August 15, it
should be opposed. The cinema hall managers will be requested not to screen
the film; if they refused to comply, direct action will be taken.

"On 17.1.99, a
2-day training programme was organised at Sarguja and Koriya districts under
the joint aegis of Bajrang Dal and RSS where among other topics, defending
Hindutva, religious conversions and cow slaughter were discussed.

"On 29.1.99,
Father Joseph, principal of Saint Mary School, Vidisha filed a written
complaint at the rural police station, Vidisha stating that at about 14.30 o’clock,
two youths came to St. Mary School and asked him why he was called ‘Father’.
One of these youths, who introduced himself as the president of Bajrang Dal
said that this is the land of Ram and here a ‘Pita’ is called
father. Similarly, again on 29.1.99, Father Joseph again filed a written
complaint stating that 3 youths abused his security guard and threatened to
kill him. On the basis of the security guard’s statement, the case was
registered and on 31.1.99, the 3 men were arrested.

"On 14.3.99, at
a press conference in Bhopal, Bajrang Dal’s national organiser, Mr Rajendra
Pankaj opposed any attempt by the administration to nationalise temples."

If for the chief
minister of MP, the above record consituted adequate grounds for a ban to be
slapped on the Bajrang Dal, after the genocide in Gujarat, the need for a ban
on the Bajrang Dal and the VHP becomes compelling. (See ‘Pamphlet poison’
section)

Sections 3 and 4 of
the Act elaborate the procedure by which an outfit may be declared unlawful.
Section 7 details how the central government then has the power to prohibit
the use of funds by such unlawful associations. Under Section 7(1), once an
organisation has been declared unlawful, the central government may, by an
order, seize assets and funds, freeze accounts and prohibit financial
transactions. This section, which deals with the funding of such bodies, could
help sever the critical link between ideology and paid cadre who, like
mercenaries, transmit the hate ideology, carry arms, plunder, rape and kill.

Under the Act, an
order freezing funds must be served in accordance with the Criminal Procedure
Code and can be challenged within a fortnight before a district court.

Similarly, under section 8, the Act
gives the central government the power to notify any place used for the
purposes of this unlawful association — be it a house, building tent or
vessel. Any articles used by the association for unlawful assembly may be
prohibited from use by the district magistrate. Shakhas, secret camps
and hideouts of the VHP and Bajrang Dal could, if included in the ban, be
seriously affected.

Arms training camp for
women, children in Gujarat

The 49th All India
Summer Training Camp organised by Ritambhara Vishva Vidyapeeth will be held at
Satapura, district, Dangs, Gujarat, from May 3 to May 22 for women and
children. The camp will include lathi-training, rifle-shooting, meditation,
yogasana, prayers, discourses and discussions on cultural and spiritual
subjects. Children between the age group 10 to 12 years can enrol. Call xxx xx
xx (phone number withheld by us) for details.

ü
A trishul, like the kirpan, is exempt from the provisions of the
Indian Arms Act.

ü
This factor is hampering the police administration and governments from
preventing the blatant arming of Indian civil society on religious lines.

ü
Rajasthan is, today, the location of a sinister re-play – this time through
the Bajrang Dal’s Trishul Diksha Samarohs and the VHP’s Jalabhishek
programme – of the earlier bloodletting under the cover of Ram shila
poojans and Advani’s rathyatra.

ü How will the
Indian State and civil society respond?

(Communalism Combat,
November 2001)

Desi Mossad is
getting ready at Bajrang Dal’s Ayodhya camp

"I, as a member
of Bajrang Dal, swear in the name of Lord Hanuman to always remain prepared to
protect my country, religion and culture,’’ 150 young men, between 15 and
21 years of age, recite in unison. After practising target shooting with air
guns at Karsevakpuram (in Ayodhya) for the past one week, the group is
attending the convocation function presided over by the national co-convenor
of the Dal, Prakash Sharma. The training camp ended last evening amid loud
chants of ‘Jai Sriram’ and ‘Jai Bajrangbali’. Asked what he did
at the camp, an activist whispers, "I am from the secret service of
Bajrang Dal. Israel’s Mossad is my inspiration. I can’t tell you
more."

Bajrang Dal officials
take great pains to explain that their camp was more to impart physical
fitness to the cadre than giving them shooting practice. Dal leaders claim
this is not the first time that they were imparting arms training to their
workers. "We are training them in handling firearms since 1996. Ayodhya
is only one of the 25 such camps planned between May 10 (in Karnataka) and
July 30 (at Guwahati)," Sharma says.

Dal office-bearers
feel outraged on being asked about the reason for training their cadre in
handling guns. "Have you ever put this question to the Scouts or National
Cadet Corps officials? If they are preparing young generation for serving the
country, so are we," Sharma says. "Arms training, in fact, bolsters
their morale and self-esteem."

(The Indian Express, 30
June 2000)

Hindu groups
organise arms training camps

Lucknow: Right-wing
Hindu groups organised a 10-day camp in Ayodhya last week to train their
cadres in marksmanship. At the camp, organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad
(VHP) and its affiliate, the Bajrang Dal, cadres were being trained to shoot
with air guns... "This is the induction stage. Later on, we will train
our boys in shooting real guns and rifles. This is part of our drill to ensure
the protection of Hindus," Ved Prakash Sachan, Bajrang Dal chief in Uttar
Pradesh, said.

The camp at
Karsevakpuram, which is being supervised by Sachan, is not the first to be
conducted in Uttar Pradesh. "Similar camps have been held in Varanasi,
Mathura and Meerut. Those who prove their shooting skills will be picked for
advanced courses," Sachan said. Some residents of Ayodhya suspect that
the groups are clandestinely training their cadres to fire more sophisticated
weapons.

(India Abroad News
Service, July 7, 2000)

Bajrang Dal
held arms training camp in Bengal too

Kolkata:Two
arms training camps were silently organised in West Bengal recently where 114
activists of the Bajrang Dal and the Durga Vahini were also trained in the use
of guns. The first camp was held at the Kamalpur High School in Chakdah in
Nadia between May 26 and June 9. Fifty-two young men, aged between 15 and 25,
were imparted training there. Apart from yoga, nijukt (karate) and the
use of lathis, the Dal activists were trained to use rifles. They were also
taught the methods of crawling and jumping through fire in full military
style. Most of those trained were freshers and all the 10 instructors were
from West Bengal.

The second camp,
organised by the Durga Vahini, the women’s wing of the VHP, was held at
Kashimbazar in Murshidabad from May 30 to June 7. In all, 62 women
participated in the camp where they obtained similar military training as
their male counterparts.

Admitting that the
camps were indeed held, state general secretary of the VHP, Ajoy Kumar Nandi,
said on Monday that such training camps were being regularly held in the state
for the last 10 years. "There is nothing secret about it. Every year, we
organise such camps. The police know about this but they have not interfered
so far," Nandi said. He did not say from where his organisation was
collecting the rifles.

Nandi also said that
the VHP had already raised a force of about 3,000 men and women belonging to
the Bajrang Dal and the Durga Vahini in this state who had been imparted
military training. "We will raise a 30,000-strong force in this state
within this year, as part of our central programme to raise a 30 lakh strong
force nation-wide," he added. So far, the trainees had mostly come from
Malda, Hooghly and North 24 Parganas districts, Nandi said.

The VHP leader
explained that the purpose of raising such a force was to "defend the
society and the state." The Durga Vahini had been specifically instructed
to intervene in incidents like kidnapping of women in the border areas. Only a
select group from among the force would be imparted special training to combat
the Pakistan-sponsored Inter-Services Intelligence, he said.

(The Times of India,
June 2000)

Of guns and
Hindu Rashtra

Lucknow:
Rat-a-tat-tat. The deafening sound of gun shots disturbs the serene
surroundings with uncanny regularity. Tracing the source through overgrown
shrubs and grass, one comes across 15 men in the 22-30 age group lying on
their stomachs with firearms in their hands. They are practising on different
targets comprising chiefly glass bottles. Giving them training is an older
man, who appears conversant with guns. The men listen to him intently and then
begin their practice session like people possessed.

Their dictum is
simple: tooth for a tooth and eye for an eye. ‘Hindu’ power flows from the
barrel of the gun for them. They are members of the newly-floated Hindu
Rashtriya Mukti Army, an offshoot of the Shiv Sena, and are attending an arms
training camp over the past 15 days at a destination about 90 km. from the
state capital.